The famous author Elie Wiesel wrote the book “Night” for several reasons. One reason was because he wanted to stop history from repeating itself by making hopeless and starving people huddle in barb-wired fences before they are incinerated. Another reason he wrote the book was because he wanted everyone in the world to know exactly what happened behind the horrifying sites of a Nazi-ruled concentration camp. Also, Wiesel knew that not many books were written on the subject so he decided it would do him good to publish a novel on the tragic event. Wiesel wanted to prevent the enemy from getting one last victory by allowing his crimes to be wiped away from human memory. The last reason for him writing this book is because Wiesel felt that it was his duty to give future generations the history of what happened during World War II “behind the lines”. These are just some of the awful reminders that happened to a young man just because of the religion he believed in.
Assignment 2: Holocaust Web Search
Night Web Search Background Information for the Holocaust
Use the following websites for a quick overview of the following terms and people. http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/
Topics to Know
Questions
Answers
Nazi Propaganda
Who is Joseph Goebbels?
List three things the Nazis did to ensurethat their views were shown/heard in the most persuasive manner possible.
Dr. Joseph Goebbels was put in charge of propaganda by Adolf Hitler. To make sure that the Nazi’s views were shown and heard in the most persuasive manner, the Nazis had Goebbels set up the Reich Chamber of Commerce in 1933. They also burned all books that did not match the Nazi ideals. Lastly, the Nazis said all films had to talk about the greatness of Hitler; the way of life for a true Nazi especially children, and as World War II approached, how badly Germans who lived in Eastern Europe were treated.
Kristallnacht/ The Final Solution/ Wannsee Conference
Kristallnacht means “The night of broken class” in English. This horrible event where Nazis staged riots and tormented the Jews happened in November 9-10, 1938. On January 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in Wannsee to discuss and coordinate the plan they called “The Final Solution”. It was decided that Hitler and others planned to incinerate all European Jews. The Final Solution is the name of this plan that involved killing every Jewish person in Europe.
The Victims
Besides the Jewish people, list seven other groups were also targets/victims of the Holocaust?
Briefly tell the fate of each group under Nazi rule.
Jewish sick and the healthy, the rich and the poor, the religiously orthodox and converts to Christianity, the aged and the young, infants, Roma Gypsies, people with disabilities, Poles , Soviet prisoners of war, Afro-Germans. The Nazis also identified political dissidents, Johovanah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals.Each targeted group was to taken for persecution, imprisonment, and/or annihilation.
The Ghettos
Describe the three types of ghettos, their purpose, and locations.
There were three types of ghettos: closed ghettos, open ghettos, and destruction ghettos. The Germans ordered Jews residing in ghettos to wear identifying badges or armbands and also required many Jews to perform forced labor for the German Reich. The largest ghetto was the Warsaw ghetto which was in Poland. Over 400,000 Jews were crowded into an area of 1.3 square miles. Other major ghettos were located in the cities of Lodz, Krakow, Bialystok, Lvov, Lublin, Vilna, Kovno, Czestochowa, and Minsk.
People sent to a labor camp were sent there not to be killed but to do forced labor that helped the war effort in some way. Even though they weren’t sent here to die, they usually did die because of the awful working conditions/overworking/poor treatment. People sent to a death camp were sent purely for the idea of putting them to death. People were either put in gas chambers, incinerated, persecuted, or annihilated.
Mainly, the Soviets liberated the camps. The Soviets liberated Belzec, Sobibor, and Treblinka, Auschwitz, Stutthof, Sachsenhausen, and Ravensbrueck. Near the end of the war, Hitler was running from armies and trying to hide while trying to keep up his work with the camps.
Twenty-Four defendants were charged during the Nuremburg Trials. These 24 people represented a cross-section of German diplomatic, economic, political, and military leadership. The International Military Tribunal declared that “following orders” was not a legitimate defense for criminal acts.
Assignment 3: Images of Night
Ghetto Life
Ghetto Life
Bitter and unimaginable
Screaming, dying, killing
Like living in a small closet with unknown people and as horrible as being put in the electric chair for a crime you did not do
A pile of sick ones
People weeping
During the rule of the Nazi's as millions gathered in the space of a mile
Table of Contents
Grant M. Night Assignments
Assignment 1: Reasons for Writing
The Impact and Meaning of a Great Book
The famous author Elie Wiesel wrote the book “Night” for several reasons. One reason was because he wanted to stop history from repeating itself by making hopeless and starving people huddle in barb-wired fences before they are incinerated. Another reason he wrote the book was because he wanted everyone in the world to know exactly what happened behind the horrifying sites of a Nazi-ruled concentration camp. Also, Wiesel knew that not many books were written on the subject so he decided it would do him good to publish a novel on the tragic event. Wiesel wanted to prevent the enemy from getting one last victory by allowing his crimes to be wiped away from human memory. The last reason for him writing this book is because Wiesel felt that it was his duty to give future generations the history of what happened during World War II “behind the lines”. These are just some of the awful reminders that happened to a young man just because of the religion he believed in.
Assignment 2: Holocaust Web Search
Night Web Search
Background Information for the Holocaust
Use the following websites for a quick overview of the following terms and people.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/
List three things the Nazis did to ensure that their views were shown/heard in the most persuasive manner possible.
http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/propaganda_in_nazi_germany.htm
Wannsee Conference
http://www.ushmm.org/museum/exhibit/focus/kristallnacht/
Who attended and what was decided at the Wannsee Conference?
What was the Final Solution?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005477
On January 20, 1942, 15 high-ranking Nazi Party and German government officials gathered at a villa in Wannsee to discuss and coordinate the plan they called “The Final Solution”. It was decided that Hitler and others planned to incinerate all European Jews. The Final Solution is the name of this plan that involved killing every Jewish person in Europe.
Briefly tell the fate of each group under Nazi rule.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007457
CLUE: Begin reading at “Targeted Groups”
Jewish sick and the healthy, the rich and the poor, the religiously orthodox and converts to Christianity, the aged and the young, infants, Roma Gypsies, people with disabilities, Poles , Soviet prisoners of war, Afro-Germans. The Nazis also identified political dissidents, Johovanah’s Witnesses, and homosexuals. Each targeted group was to taken for persecution, imprisonment, and/or annihilation.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005059
What was life like in the ghettos?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007445
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005144
What were the conditions?
What different types of extermination were performed?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005145
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10005131
What did Hitler do near the end of the war?
How many defendants were charged during the Nuremberg Trials? What did they represent
?http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007143
What did the International Military Tribunal decide was not a legitimate defense?
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/article.php?lang=en&ModuleId=10007142
Twenty-Four defendants were charged during the Nuremburg Trials. These 24 people represented a cross-section of German diplomatic, economic, political, and military leadership. The International Military Tribunal declared that “following orders” was not a legitimate defense for criminal acts.
Assignment 3: Images of Night
Ghetto Life
Ghetto Life
Bitter and unimaginable
Screaming, dying, killing
Like living in a small closet with unknown people and as horrible as being put in the electric chair for a crime you did not do
A pile of sick ones
People weeping
During the rule of the Nazi's as millions gathered in the space of a mile